Agriculture gives hope!

JANNIE DE VILLIERS, uitvoerende hoofbestuurder/CEO

The dust of Grain SA’s Harvest Day is finally gone from between our teeth and we are smiling broadly, but definitely tired! It is hard work, but most certainly worth it.

The friendships, the smiles and generous compliments carry us through the hardworking times. I think it was Claude Möller (motivational speaker) who remarked that the Harvest Day is a symbol of hope for the people. The optimism of producers who despite all the natural elements as well as political and economic instability, continue to invest in agriculture and produce food for the nation, inspire all of us.

Every seed put into the soil in faith is an investment against poverty. The yields we as producers achieve, are not just for our own gain, but also serve as an assurance to every person who on a daily basis ekes out a precarious living to survive. It is this kind of faith that provides hope to people. The collective expression of what we as producers do, gives hope to people. Let us carry on with it!

This year there was very little time for me to get out among the people and the exhibitions. Nevertheless, I noticed a few things I would like to share with you: A mother holding her young son by the hand, pointed to one of the very big tractors saying to him: “A person must be very clever to drive one of those tractors.” That once more confirmed to me how important proper training of our farm employees were for the responsible work they have to do.

Something else which struck me during NAMPO regarding our farm workers was when I noticed a group of them who each produced a cell phone to photograph the sheep shearing. This is proof that our workers are getting more and more adept with the technology we use to produce food for the country.

One of the speakers during the Harvest Day events referred to the 2,5% contribution of agriculture to the gross national product (GNP) as the bath plug of our economy. Although it is only a small part, it is nevertheless a very important one. If this plug is missing, a lot will be lost.

It sometimes happens that one perceives the importance of agriculture only from your own perspective and then I realise that we are mostly subjective in doing so. However, when first time visitors arrive at NAMPO and literally gape unashamedly (almost slack mouthed) at what they are seeing, I realise that we are not quite as subjective as we might think.

Whilst we in the north are celebrating harvesting, the men from the south are planting. It was good to hear Schalk Viljoen (an ex member of the Executive of Grain SA) proclaiming that planting conditions have never been as favourable. It was also nice to have some of the old timers like Giel, Vic, Cerneels, Boetie, Crawford and Jub as well as a group of ex Harvest Day Committee Members, dropping in to ensure we remain on course.

Admittedly, NAMPO also has its lighter moments. I encountered a group of hospital staff from Pretoria who completely overawed me when they enquired where the stand is with the unmarried farmers who are free of debt. Maybe this could be a new challenge for the Harvest Day Committee?

One of our staff members also had a sharp retort when they saw the selfie of Victor Matfield and Wandile Sihlobo, one of Grain SA’s (short) economists: “The caption for such a photo should not read from left to right, but from top to bottom!”

As the dust of NAMPO 2014 is settling, the work discussed during the “Nation in Discussion” sessions, however, continues. During the next few months it is going to be quite difficult to get land reform on track where all can be winners and to collectively combine the investments in the land, equipment and people to ensure food for all in the country.